Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

DIRT TRACK AMA GRAND NATIONAL C HAMPIONSHIP SERIES (Top) A win for every lille: s cott Park er capped off another Incredible season by claiming his elghlh Grand National vlclory of Ihe year at tne series finale Del Mar Mile. (Above) Down lhe atreten: Rich King ~ (80) surprised Parker (1) with an 0\ t""""" N N ... OJ ..c o ..... o 6 aggressive pas s late in the race . The pair fought it out to this photo fin ish. which was awarded to Parker only alter a lengthy video review by AMA officials. Round 22: Del Mar Fairgounds By Sco tt Rouss eau Photos by Flat Trak Foto s ORMAR.CA,OCT.12 cott Parker may have clinched his eighth AMA G rand N a t io nal Cha mpions hi p in fine fas hion at the penultima te round of th e series in Las Vegas, but coming into the Del Mar Mile, there was still work to be done. The factory Harl ey-Davidson pilot is, after all, paid to wi n Grand Nati on al races, a nd just because he had already o nce aga in been crowned king of the series, tha t di d n' t mean that it was time to lay down a nd cruise at the Del Mar Fairground s. And he d id n' t. Parker once again showed the crowd at the third annual Del Mar Mile why he ranks amo ng the bes t of the best. He led the fi rst la p of the m ain event, the n slipped back before stoking the coals to hi s Bill Werner-prepared XR750. Com ing fro m behind, Parker ran down laterace leader Will Davis, then stopped an even later charge by Rich King to win hi s eighth champio ns hip e vent of the seas o n - a nd the 84th of his career before God, Willie G. Davidso n, and e ve ry o ne else who pa cked the m ain gra ndstand at Del Mar. And once aga in, in typical Scott Parker fashio n, he di d U spectacularly, shadowing King off th e fourt h tu rn o n the last lap and then pulling along side the Corbin Racing teamster right at Ihe line 10 crea te a ph oto finish that brough t the crow d to its feet. The race w as so close that it took AMA officials a few min utes o f re viewin g th e vi d eo ta ped footage from the finish-line camera to determine that Parker had gollen past King by the width of a fro nt tire . "Harley-Davidson all the wa y, man!" a n excite d Parker said while un the podiu m . "I was jus t pushin' , pu shin', pushin'. I started following Will (Davis) a nd d oing what he w as d oin g . Th en, o nce I go t ou t o n hi m, I ju st s ta r ted cr u is i ng. T h e n he r e co mes Kin g ! I thou ght I could get him at the line, but I d id n' t thi nk th at it wa s go nna be that dose." For the Corbin Racing /R&R Racingbacked King, the race was basically one long charge , from the green ligh t to the Sco ll Zimmerman checkered flag . The 34-year-old Iowan was fourt h after the first lap , bu t he soo n bega n to make up a lot of grou nd on his Sam Wessely- built RS750, as he used a line that was no more than si x in ches from the inside g uard rai l to stalk and pass Joe Kopp and Geo Roeder 11 on the ro ug h, gritty Del Mar race track. King continoed to leave the throttle pinned, and some how managed to catch bot h Davis and Parke r just as that pair exchanged the lead on lap 18. He then engaged Pa rker in a d ra fting war - the likes of w hic h Del Mar has never seen, leadi ng on the back straight a nd yie lding on the front , only to just fall back by in ch es a t the lin e when it counted most. " I really th oug ht we pulled it off," Kin g sa id , "b u t I g uess we ca me up short. They say that 1 finished second . I'll take their wo rd for it and look at the vi deo ta pe la te r. Bu t Sco ll Parke r is tough, and I kn ew that he was going for it. " Davis, too, was going for it aboa rd hi s TCR / Acce l / Bu n z l USA Harl eyDavidson , bu t w h ile the fr ie nd ly 32year-old North Carolinian 's horse wa s w illi ng, his a rms we re not , a nd a fte r leading the race from lap tw o to lap 17, Da vis finally co nce d ed to Parker and King. He fell off th e lead pace, bu t by the n Da vis w a s so fa r a head of t he fourth-placed Kopp tha t he could afford to rid e out the rem aind er of the race in cruise mod e. ..Arm pum p," Davis sai d . "I ca n' t bla me that on nobody but me . I thought we had it figured out tod ay. I thou ght we had her, man. I defin itely had the horse tod ay, tha t's for sure." Kopp was perhaps one of the biggest victims of the day, nailing down a flawless start as he won the fastes t heat race en rou te to the main event but suffering a terrible sc rat ch off the lin e in the Grand Na tional feature. Though he was third on the opening lap, the 27-year-<>ld Washingtonian and 1997 Peoria IT wi nner also d ropped back and was forced into playing catch-up. He had the speed, but he di d n't have the luck that wo uld net him his first G rand Nationa l mil e victory. Harley-David son of Sacra me nto /H arle y-Da vid s on Motor Com pany I A rai- backed Ko p p w a s satis fie d wit h his run, as he moved pa s t Geo Roed er and Ricky Gra ha m after a mid -

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